Leo Mazzone is considered by many to be one of the best pitching coaches in the game. He was the long-time pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves and became pitching coach for the Baltimore Orioles following the 2005 season.
A southpaw, Mazzone was a minor league pitcher from 1967 to 1975 before becoming a coach. After retiring as a player, Mazzone was manager of the independent Corpus Christi Seagulls in the Gulf States League in 1976, and Lone Star League in 1977. He then moved to the independent Kinston Eagles of the Class A Carolina League during the 1978 season.
Atlanta hired Mazzone in 1979. He was a coach with the Durham Bulls (1983- mid-1984), Sumter Braves (1986), Greenville Braves (1987), and Richmond Braves (1988- mid-1990) before he was named the pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves in June 1990. He was also a manager of Greenville for part of 1984 and was co-pitching coach in Atlanta with Johnny Sain in 1985. His pitching staffs anchored 14 division winners in Atlanta. Among his pitchers' accomplishments with the club are four ERA titles, six Cy Young Awards, and nine twenty game winners.
Following the 2005 season, Mazzone became the pitching coach for the Baltimore Orioles until 2007.

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20140215_04_Leo Mazzone_Throw and Turn Breaking Ball-_The question I'll most ask as a pitching coach is this-- when should a youngster start throwing a breaking ball? I'm Leo Mazzone, and I'm here to tell you when to start it and how to start it. Number one, you have to look at the coordination of a youngster's fastball, the coordination in his mechanics on a fastball. If he's very well coordinated, you can start teaching you how to spin the ball. You notice I said spin the ball, not snap the ball. Snap as a term that we do not want to use period. It makes me feel like I want to snap my arm off. Now, if he does, then how do you go about teaching and how to spin the ball? Well, there's three steps to this spinning the ball that I'm going to explain to you, and it's called throw it, turn it, and pull it in. Now, I'm going to explain to you why. If you see a youngster on a mound, he's going to start throwing to break ball. What you do is you walk up to him and see if he turns the breaking ball early right here. So you walk up to the youngster. You put your hand against his hand and tell him to push. When he tries to push your arm, there's going to be no arm strength there. But if I tell that youngster to have his palm facing the hitter when he moves forward on his breaking ball and push, he's got much more arm strength, and he's in much better position to unload the breaking ball. So therefore, you have to think in terms of throwing it first before I turn it, because how you hurt your arm is if you try to create it early. Now, what looks more natural to you? This here, trying to create it early and throw it like this or I want to throw it first, turn it, and pull it in. Now, this is what you want to get to. Throw, turn, pull, boom, boom, boom. See? I'm spinning that ball. I'm spinning it. This is what you want to avoid-- hook early and flip out. Now, what looks harder on your arm? All you got to do is look at what I'm doing with my arm. And that'll explain to you that it's easier if I throw, turn, and pull. Throw, turn, and pull. Now, you'll notice I didn't call it a curve ball. I didn't call it a slider. I want a breaking ball. I don't care how big it breaks or how little it breaks, as long as it breaks. As long as we're changing the direction of the spin off the fastball. That's how you cushion your arm on a breaking ball. And just let me show you this right here. I'm going to stick my arm out right here. When I pull it in a little bit and I turn it, I'm over the ball. Pull it a little more, turn it. I'm over the ball. Pull it in all the way, turn it. And I'm over the ball. Now, let me explain this to you. When I pull it in a little bit and turn it, that's a little breaking ball. The more I pull in, it brakes a little bigger. The most I pull in, it breaks as much as you could make it break. So in other words, you could throw a smaller breaking ball and a bigger breaking ball. You don't change the grip. Everything stays the same; it's how much yo pull the ball in. But here it's very important that I throw it first, then start the procedure to spin the ball. If I try to spin it too early, and break too early, and create too early, that's how you hurt your arm on a breaking ball. When I'm talking about a throw and turn breaking ball, I want to add one more point to the release of it. When you throw it, and turn it, and pull it in and you see a pitcher leave the breaking ball, if he's right handed, leave it to the inside part to a righty, or the lefty, inside part to the lefty. That means he's going around the breaking ball. A great way to correct that is to tell the pitcher this. When you throw it and turn it, break it right in front of your face. Break it right in front of your face. Now, look at that. If you break it right in front of your face, you're in good shape. You'll throw, turn, pull. And I'm right in the middle my body, breaking right in front of my face. The other thing when you're throwing a breaking ball, always think north and south. By that, I mean north and south. Too many guys want to go east and west or west to east, if you're a righty. And you go around the ball and throw a Frisbee. What you always want to think of is something that creates an angle. Also, on a breaking ball, any time on a breaking ball, a change up, or a fastball, and you throw that front leg out of the way, nothing works-- nothing. You've got to go against your front leg before you go out over it on your fastball on your change up and on your breaking ball. If a breaking ball goes in the dirt and you don't want it to, what causes it? It's always your lead leg, whether you're right handed or left handed. If you throw that lead leg out of the way, that ball will go in the dirt when you don't want it to. And I'm talking about a breaking ball, a change up, and a fastball. But it all comes back to one thing, a direct route to your target where you put your leg up. You put it down on your fastball, your change up, and your breaking ball. And if you learn how to throw it first, then turn it, then pull it in, you'll see that you're breaking it in front of your face in a north, south fashion. Now, I had worked with some kids in college. And this one parent said that a breaking ball was hurting his son's arm. Would you take a look at it? Well, after he threw some fastballs and stuff I said, OK. Go ahead and spin the ball. The first thing he did was give it this here, and divot this here. Look at this extension right here. Boom, elbow gone. Now, that's not throw, turn, and pull. That's hook and flip. A hook and a flip is a dangerous way to go about throwing a breaking ball. Now, if I throw it, and turn it, and pull it in, what looks easier on your arm folks? This here, bang. You just banged the heck out of it or cushioned it.

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